With examinations long gone, dissertation handed in and term time officially drawing to a close, so begins my gradual ebbing away of studentdom. Through as I am with academia, I now must accept that I will soon shift from nominally being a "student" to "unemployed", which isn't really a good thing. I am no stranger to holding down an occupation or two but whereas previously I had summer jobs and gap year fund-raising jobs, now it's a "work until you retire or die" situation I have lined up ahead of me. And simultaneously the priviliges I have enjoyed the past four years have started to vanish.
Yesterday, I handed in my SOAS card, as it was essentially property of the university. Now if I wish to enter the school's hallowed doors, I will need to sign in as a visitor. Similarly, if I ever want to borrow a book from the library, I'll need special outsider access, with all kinds of extra limitations and fees, while gone already is my Senate House Library validity.
However, my student status is still intact for a few months yet. I can still use SOAS computers and keep all my files for another three months, and my SOAS email address is still active three months after that. More useful is my NUS card, which I'll keep on using until I am literally turned away from a point of sale (they change the colour and design every year to make sure it's obvious I'm out of touch with the youth of today). I've been making a concerted effort to catch as many films at the cinema as possible just to wring every last drop of ticket discountability it offers. A couple of quid here and there soon adds up, and you can then go spend it on seeing another film. Bonus. With even more longevity is my student Oyster card, which gives me a third off travelcards until 14th October. And then there's my Young Persons Railcard which doesn't expire until 3rd September 2009, so there'll be plenty of cut-price travelling for months to come.
Cards and tickets are one thing, but I'm already starting to feel old - recent university open days and tours for prospective first years highlighted just how young and fresh-faced these new whipper-snappers are. I don't think I could cope sticking around for a masters or postgrad degree with so many youngsters around; I'd just get horribly depressed. At least in the world of work I'll still be considered something of a young'un. A trainee of sorts. Nothing's worse than being asked by a first or second year "What's it like being a fourth year?", not because it's impolite or annoying, but rather because it's just plain upsetting. Suffice to say, tales of mid-mid-life crises have a certain substance to them.
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Listening to: Masami Ueda, Shusaku Uchiyama, Syun Nishigaki - The Library
via FoxyTunes
